1 injured in southwest Birmingham house fire

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- One person was injured in a fire at a home in the Green Acres neighborhood of southwest Birmingham Wednesday night.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to the house in the 1500 block of Pine View Road just after 9 p.m. to a report of a house on fire. Firefighters arrived on scene and found heavy flames and smoke, according to Battalion Chief Gene Coleman.

There were initially reports of a person trapped in the house, but that person was later found outside the house, Coleman said. That person was taken to UAB Hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Coleman urged people to have smoke detectors in their homes and plans for getting out of fires. Nine people have died in fires in Birmingham so far this year, he said, three of those on his shift.